Diabetes is a chronic disease that has no cure. Currently, about 18.2 million people or 6.3% of the population in the United States have diabetes. While roughly 13 million have been diagnosed, it is estimated that 5.2 million people are not aware that they have the disease. As the 6th leading cause of death by disease in 2000, diabetes is costing the US health care system an estimated $132 billion annually. National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, NIH Publication No. 04-3892, November 2003. More serious than the economic costs associated with diabetes are the decrease in quality of life, serious health complications/consequences, and deaths associated with diabetes.
With about 12,000 to 24,000 new cases each year, diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in adults ages 20-74. Diabetes is also the leading cause of end-stage renal disease, accounting for about 44% of new cases annually. In 2001 alone, approximately 42,800 people initiated treatment for end stage renal disease (kidney failure) because of diabetes. About 60-70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of diabetic nerve damage, which, in severe forms, can lead to lower limb amputations. In fact, more than 60% of non-traumatic, lower limb amputations are performed on persons with diabetes. In 2002-2003, about 82,000 non-traumatic, lower limb amputations were performed on persons with diabetes. People with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to suffer a stroke. Moreover, adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than those without diabetes.
Diabetes is a group of diseases characterized by high blood glucose levels, which result from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. Because diabetes can remain undiagnosed for years, many people become aware that they have diabetes only after the development of one of its life-threatening complications. Although the cause of diabetes is still unknown, it is well-accepted that both genetics and environmental factors, such as obesity and lack of exercise, are important factors.
One group of diabetes, Type 1 (or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or juvenile-onset diabetes), develops when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells that make the hormone insulin, which regulates blood glucose levels. Type 1 diabetes usually occurs in children and young adults; although disease onset can occur at any age. Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 5 to 10 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Risk factors for Type 1 diabetes include autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors. Individuals diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes require daily delivery of insulin via injections or pumps.
Another group of diabetes, Type 2 diabetes (or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or adult-onset diabetes), is a metabolic disorder resulting from the body's inability to make enough, or properly use, insulin. This disease usually begins as insulin resistance, a disorder in which the cells do not use insulin properly, and as the need for insulin rises, the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease accounting for 90-95 percent of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is nearing epidemic proportions, due to an increased number of older Americans, and a greater prevalence of obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
Gestational diabetes refers to a form of glucose intolerance that is diagnosed in pregnant women. During pregnancy, gestational diabetes requires treatment to normalize maternal blood glucose levels to avoid complications in the infant. A percentage (5-10 percent) of women with gestational diabetes have Type 2 diabetes after pregnancy. Women who have had gestational diabetes also have a 20-50 percent chance of developing diabetes in the next 5-10 years.
Hyperinsulinemia refers to the overproduction of insulin by pancreatic cells. Often, hyperinsulinemia occurs as a result of insulin resistance, which is a condition defined by cellular resistance to the action of insulin. Insulin resistance, as defined above, is a state/disorder in which a normal amount of insulin produces a subnormal biologic (metabolic) response. For example, in insulin-treated patients with diabetes, insulin resistance is considered to be present whenever the therapeutic dose of insulin exceeds the secretory rate of insulin in normal person.
Impaired glucose homeostasis (or metabolism) refers to a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. There are two categories that are considered risk factors for future diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) occurs when the glucose levels following a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test are between 140 to 199 mg/dl. IGT is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes and is present in about 11 percent of adults, or approximately 20 million Americans. About 40-45 percent of persons age 65 years or older have either type 2 diabetes or IGT. Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) occurs when the glucose levels following an 8-hour fasting plasma glucose test are greater than 110 but less than 126 mg/dl.
Hyperglycemia, a common feature of diabetes, is caused by decreased glucose utilization by liver and peripheral tissues and an increased glucose production by liver. Glucokinase (GK), the major glucose phosphorylating enzyme in the liver and the pancreatic β-cells, plays an important role in regulating blood glucose homeostasis. Notably, the levels of this enzyme are lowered in patients with type 2 diabetes (Caro, J. F. et al., Hormone metabolic Res., 27; 19-22, 1995) and in some diabetic animal models (Barzilai, N. and Rossetti, L. J. Biol. Chem., 268:25019-25025, 1993).
Many pharmaceutical compositions and methods have been proposed to treat and/or cure diabetes. For example, one approach to reducing hyperglycemia in diabetes involves increasing liver GK activity (Van Schaftingen, E. et al., Adv. Enzyme Regul. 32:133-148, 1992). Studies involving transgenic diabetic mice have shown that increased GK copy number results in increased hepatic glucose metabolism and decreased plasma glucose levels (Ferre, T. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93:7225-7230 (1996a) and FASEB J., 10:1213-1218, (1996b); Niswender, K. D. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 272:22570-22575 (1997)), demonstrating that increasing liver GK may be effective in reducing hyperglycemia in diabetes. In addition, Hariharan, N. et al. (Diabetes 46:11-16 (1997)) have demonstrated that increasing liver GK improves glucose homeostasis and leads to weight reduction in transgenic mice.
Various groups have also demonstrated that glucokinase regulatory protein (“GKRP”) binds to GK in the hepatocyte nucleus and may therefore function in vivo to regulate GK activity (Brown, K. S. et al., Diabetes 46:179-186, 1997; De la Iglesia, N. et al., FEBS Lett. 456:332-338, 1999; Fernandez-Novell, J. M. et al., FEBS Lett. 459:211-214, 1999). The relevance of this mechanism in an in vivo setting has been demonstrated in experiments by Chemington and coworkers (Shiota, M. et al., Diabetes 47:867-873, 1998). In these studies, small amounts of fructose, which is converted to fructose-1-phosphate in the liver and thus should increase free GK, substantially increased net hepatic glucose utilization, analogous to what is seen in the transition from fasted to fed states.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,519 (hereinafter the '519 patent) discloses methods for controlling either hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance by administering panthethine (see claims 1-18; col. 5, lines 6-15) or cysteamine (see claims 19-27; col. 5, lines 16-22) at predetermined intervals during the day. Unfortunately, some of the dosages of panthethine or cysteamine (for example, 500 mg of cysteamine) disclosed in the '519 patent are toxic to humans. In fact, such dosage amounts of cysteamine or panthethine can also cause undesirable gastrointestinal symptoms, such as increased acid output or even ulcers (Srivastava, P. K. & L. Field, “Organic disulfides and related substances. 38. Some disulfide and trisulfide sulfinate salts as antiradiation drugs,” J Med Chem, 18(8):798-802 (1975)). In addition, the necessary specific times for administration, as taught by the '519 patent, are not conducive to patient compliance with a therapy regimen.
Cysteamine itself is not a very stable chemical compound. Generally, cysteamine very quickly disappears (in minutes) when administered to the body. Therefore, it would be critical to make a stable form of cysteamine, that will be properly metabolized by the body at a target area for optimal therapeutic effect.
The two pharmacological modalities presently used to lower blood sugar are oral hypoglycemic (anti-diabetic) agents and insulin. Insulin replacement is presently accomplished by injection and is based upon the lack of insulin or limitation of its action in diabetes mellitus. Oral anti-diabetic agents are not chemically akin to insulin and their sugar-lowering mechanism differs from the action of direct insulin replacement. Oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin are, at present, therapeutically utilized alone or in concert with each other, according to the needs of the diabetic individual. Some individuals are best treated with more than one oral agent, with, or without insulin
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for new therapeutic treatments for diabetes; particularly for eliminating or reducing symptoms related to diabetes.